FORRESTON — Lena-Winslow’s defense tightened up during its final drive against Forreston Week 6 of the regular season.

Saturday afternoon, the Panthers stood tall throughout the first round of the playoffs against the Cardinals, holding the home team to just 10 points in a 24-10 victory.

Le-Win will advance to the second round to play Aquin next week.

“For the most part we were able to keep them pretty tied down,” Panthers linebacker Hank Holm said. “Giving just 10 points to a team like Forreston, they’re a heck of a team and have a great quarterback.”

“We had to shut them down and had to force them to spread them out,” Le-Win’s Luke Schubert said.

Forreston didn’t score until the final 33.5 seconds of the first half, as DeVries darted into the end zone. Before then, the Panthers were sporting a 10-0 lead.

Le-Win scored on the opening drive of the game on a field goal, then picked up a touchdown on a play that was designed just a day before the game.

Ben Moest threw a screen pass to running back Tyler Oakley on fourth and 10 on Forreston’s 24 for a 10-0 lead with 8:31 left before halftime.

“Coach (John) Mancosky demanded we put that play in,” Le-Win coach Ric Arand said. “It was just our ‘waggle’ screen and they bit on it and it was a heck of a play.”

Forreston drove down the field on two 13-yard passes from quarterback Robert DeVries to Dalton Lewis and Ross Williams to set up DeVries’ 7-yard scamper for a 10-7 score.

The Cardinals drove down the field again to start the third quarter for 65 yards and knotted the game up, 10-all.

The Panthers fumbled on their next drive and the Cardinals drove within five yards of earning their first lead. But Forreston fumbled the ball inside the 5-yard line and Le-Win’s Colton Dyre recovered it.

The Panthers didn’t score again until the fourth quarter, when Brendan Eilders ran in a 9-yard TD for a 17-10 lead. The Panthers scored again on a 19-yard TD from Oakley to put the game away.